Problems of Peace
by The Optimist And The Pessimist
Summary: SEQUEL TO BROKEN STRINGS! Did Bella really forgive Edward? Will the past come back to haunt our vampires? And what about Charlotte, can she handle being the only single in a house full of couples? Does an old friend equal trouble? Canon couples.ON HIATUS
1. The Beginning of Chaos

**_A/N: We are back ladies and gentlemen. Back from our vacation.. back from all of ours excuses.. We bring back a present.. A SEQUEL. So if you want to understand Problems of Peace, you need to read Broken Strings. just saying. Well.. we won't give spoilers.. So here it is.._**

**_REVIEW.. because we really love them!!_**

**_Charlotte & Louise._**

**_DISCLAIMER: S. Meyer owns everything except Charlotte, she's ours!  
_**

1. The Beginning of Chaos

_"Chaos is a friend of mine." - Bob Dylan. _

CPOV

I hate flying. Why would we fly, when we all know that swimming is faster and funnier? Sometimes this family just doesn't make sense. To give a view over things: Carlisle and Esme are sitting in the front, looking as if they were real parents. I feel like vomiting. Behind them is Bella and Edward, they are still trying to look like a couple, but they are not really succeeding. And I really tried to be good, I've been avoiding the family and not really talked to anyone. But they are still having problems. I mean come on; it's been two years since she forgave him. I'm behind Edward and Bella, with my own two seats. I'm enjoying it or trying to look like I'm enjoying it anyway. In reality I feel like jumping of the plane, land in a little village and kill a whole bunch of people, but I made that stupid bet… So no human blood for Charlotte, because yes, the bet was still on. Behind me are Emmett and Rosalie. Emmett is looking guilty, which he should be this was all his fault. Rosalie was trying to cheer him up, but it's not really working. Jasper and Alice is sitting in the back, Jasper is trying to make Emmett happier and me less mad, which isn't really working, which reminds me.

"Emmett you idiot! I can't believe you killed a human being!" I yelled, making everybody sitting in 1st class turn to look at me, with horror painted all over their faces. _Ups._

"Charlotte? Shut up!" Edward hissed at me furiously, the others said something too, but I didn't really listen to them.

"No, I'm not going to shut up," I said in perfect British accent, "Wow, you are going to hate living with me, if I keep on talking like this. And Edward, I was the boss in Italy, you can't just tell me to shut up." Bella growled at the mention of Italy, which only made me roll my eyes.

"Seriously, how long have you guys been vegetarians… A couple of hundred years? I've been it for two years and I haven't even thought about killing someone… I'm kind of disappointed." As soon as the words had left my mouth, there was a mutual "Char!" Coming from everybody, but Emmet and Bella. Emmet sighed softly and I could almost feel the guilt radiating of him, while Bella also sighed, but this time it was in annoyance, she then turned back to her book, because yes… When Edward and Bella fly, they read?!

"I mean it! I liked Chicago; it didn't rain as much as it does in London. I've lived there way too long and I don't want to go back to England. Have you guys even been there?" I knew Bella, Edward and Carlisle had, but the rest of them…

"Oh my God, you guys have never been there… Shame on you!" I took the time to shake my head at them before I started talking again, "I have the right to be angry… Emmet killed somebody, not me!" I of course noticed too late that the stewardess was standing way too close to me and she had of course heard everything. I turned to look at her and smiled wickedly at her.

"Hi, Can you get me a Coke… No make that Coke light… No… Hey what do you guys think is the best?" I said, but they didn't answer, "Well, what do you think is the best… Shirley?" I said as I looked at her nametag, she stood there frozen in time, probably blinded by my smile or something. _Stupid vampire gifts. _

"Um… Well I like a regular Coke…" She said hesitantly and looked at me with questioning eyes.

"Okay, then I'll have a Coke Zero… You think I got this body by drinking a regular Coke?" _I got it by being bitten by a blood thirsty vampire 8000 years ago... So much better._ I of course didn't say that out loud, but smiled at the stewardess that quickly ran to get my Coke. Edward started laughing at me.

"Oh, because you drink Coke, Char?" Edwards said tauntingly at me, I only rolled my eyes at him.

"Not Coke Edward… Coke Zero!" I said mockingly, he only started laughing again. The stewardess came back with the Coke Zero for and as soon as she had given it to me she was gone. I turned in my seat so I could look at Emmet.

"Here Emmett, for you," His eyes widened at me and started shaking head at me.

"Charlotte, don't start with me! I don't want to drink your stupid Coke Zero!" He hissed and glared at me.

"Drink it and I'll forgive you for getting us to move away from Chicago." I said and suddenly he looked quite interested in what I had to say.

"Really?" I only nodded at him; he took the Coke from my hand and got this determent look upon his face.

And then he… He started drinking the Coke. He actually drank it. I just sat there, looking at the disgusting sight before me. Why human people enjoyed drinking something like that never seized to amaze me. Emmett finished drinking and looked disgusted at me. I wrinkled my nose and sat there…

"That. Was. Disgusting!" He exclaimed and closed his eyes.

"I can't believe you actually did that. Did you really believe that I would forget that you killed a person? Seriously?!" _Oh that lovely British accent… _I said and finished off with a little laugh.

"Charlotte, you need to keep your promises. You know that!" Carlisle said in that fatherly tone, that made me raise my eyebrows at him.

"It's only people that have a conscience that keep their promises… _Dad._" I said mockingly and smiled sweetly at him. His eyes widened and he almost glared at me.

"Don't call me dad!" I could feel the mischievously smile forming on my face.

"But I thought you said we were supposed to be like a family, dad?" I could see Carlisle closing his eyes and take a deep unnecessary breath. I turned around to look at Emmett.

"If I were a nice person, I would forget it... But I'm not, which is obviously a good thing, because we all know that it's the evil persons that wins." I looked quickly at Alice that gave me thumbs up. I smirked at her and laughed a little.

"I am not going to kiss you as long as you smell of coke." I heard Rosalie mutter at Emmett.

"But Rosie!" Emmett whimpered, which made me laugh internally, especially as I heard the sound of someone getting smacked on the back of their head. I shook my head and leaned back in my chair, picking up my Vogue Magazine from the other seat.

If I hadn't raised my head at the exact same second I did, I wouldn't have noticed the way Edward tensed up, he quickly recovered, but turned to look at Bella, who didn't look at him. I frowned, confused.

"Bella?" He whispered softly to her, but she didn't acknowledge him,."You know that's not the truth!" He whispered and leaned closer towards her. So she was letting him in today, that was new. She normally hated having him in her head, or so I've heard. He kissed her, which made me turn my head. I hated every form of PDA.

"I love you… You do know that right?" Edward whispered and I could hear some shifting around, and the subtle sound of two books hitting the floor. When I turned my head to once again look at them I could see Edward holding Bella, kissing her head in a caringly manner, which made me want to vomit. I turned back to my magazine as I heard the soft almost inaudible. "I know." Coming from Bella. It somehow made me smile.

I closed my eyes and sighed softly, enjoying the silence. That is until my stupid extraordinary vamp-hearing kicked in. Some people shouldn't bring their children with them, especially not when they're flying. This kid was screaming and crying. The mother was trying, no doubt about that, to get her child to calm down.

I tried to block the sound out, but the screaming kid seemed to start a wave of new annoying noises. People complaining about the crying kid, Shirley walking around asking people "If she could get them anything." And of course all those stupid little noises, humans make. I mean, I really don't want to listen to all of those so called "Silent farts", because let me tell you something… They are not silent at all! This is supposed to be first class with silence and all the other good things, that make is so expensive. So I do not want to listen to all of those silent farts.

"Does the term "cruel and unusual punishment" mean anything to you people?" I sighed and looked up from my magazine.

"What do you mean Char?" I rolled my eyes at Edward's worried tone, could that guy not just chill for a minute?

"What I mean is that I can hear babies crying, people farting and complaining… how am I supposed to find any form of rest, when there's all this noise? Why did we take the plane when we could have been swimming?" I whispered and sighed yet once again.

"Because normal people fly, we hate it just as much as you do, so suck it up Vargas!" I heard Bella mumble, which made me involuntarily smile, but I quickly hid it and groaned.

"When are we touching ground again…? Alice?" I said and sighed

"20 minutes and 26 seconds… Emmett? Forget it!" I wrinkled my eyebrows in confusion and turned to look at Emmett and then at Alice, silently asking her what see was talking about.

"No... Absolutely not Emmett." Edward half said half chuckled from behind.

"One of his master plans I suppose?" I said and glanced Edward and Alice.

"Has Emmett ever had a master plan, Charlotte?" Alice stage whispered to me and laughed a little.

"Forget it Emmett, it's not going to happen, so stop pleading me with your thoughts!" I laughed at them.

"Kids?" I heard Carlisle groan, which made me laugh harder.

"Yes Daddy?" I could almost hear him cringe as I uttered those two words… If I were a human I would be fighting against the bile in my throat. I closed my eyes, while listening to _the siblings_ fighting.

"_This is your captain speaking, we will in a moment land at Heathrow airport, please stay in your seat until the plane is still. We hope you enjoyed your journey."_

My eyes popped open. Did I really just waste 20 minutes on that? Wow. As the plane stilled and people started to abandon their seats I looked at the Cullen family. I took one last glance out of the window, before I got up to leave.

_I would make the Cullen's regret the day they forced me to live with them. _


	2. Deal With The Devil

_**A/N: WE SUCK... I hate myself, and I'm pretty sure you guys hate me too... School has been kicking both of our ass.. thus FF not being so important.. which is a bad excuse, we know.. but that's what happened.. but we will try to update more often.. this year hopefully.. We hope that you still want to read this.. WE REALLY DO.. well.. there's not much left to say than.. thanks for the reviews you gave us last chapter and so on. (; WE love all of our readers, and we hope you will enjoy this chapter. **_

_**Playlist: **_

_**Blue October - 18th Floor Balcony**_

_**Alexander Deplat - Marry me, Bella. **_

_**REVIEW.. WE LOOOOOOVE THEM!**_

_**- Charlotte and Louise. **_

_**DISCLAIMER: S. Meyer owns everything, except Charlotte and The Shakespeare quotes.  
**_

2. Deals with The Devil

_The lunatic, the lover, and the poet Are of imagination all compact. One sees more devils than vast hell can hold; That is the madman. The lover, all as frantic, Sees Helen's beauty in a brow of Egypt. The poet's eye, in a fine frenzy rolling, Doth glance from heaven to earth, from earth to heaven; And as imagination bodies forth The forms of things unknown, the poet's pen Turns them to shapes, and gives to airy nothing A local habitation and a name.  
- W. Shakespeare, A Midsummer's Night Dream. _

EPOV

The London house was nothing like the one we had in Chicago. First of all, this one was enormous and second of all, it didn't have as many big windows as the one in Chicago. But it was beautiful; as usual. There was a library with an extended collection of rare and exceptional books; First editions and so on, a secret sanctuary for people as Bella and Jasper. Then there was the pool, Carlisle's office and of course… all the bedrooms. And as for bedrooms, I was currently laying in our bed, looking at Bella reading, yet once again, Romeo and Juliet. She was reading it slowly, taking her time to take in the words, she by know would have memorised.

My hand was absently caressing her arm; still she did not pay attention to me. I leaned closer and kissed her elbow; no reaction. Kissed her shoulder; no reaction. Kissed her neck once, twice, three times; yet no reaction. I sighed and leaned against the soft pillows in our bed. It was one of those days, I should have known. The incident in the plane should have been warning enough. There would be no reaction today; she would be closed off, as she usually was, when I didn't think. It was always my fault, but my feelings for Charlotte had not disappeared, so what was I supposed to do? I would always love Bella the most. Bella was the meaning to everything. But sometimes I would look at Charlotte, and I would feel something, not a spark or an electric current as I usually felt when Bella entered the room. It was this slow, warm, almost liquid feeling that made me feel... _something. _Bella always noticed when this happened. Always, this was the reason behind the no reaction, which was why she was acting like this.

I heard the book close softly as Bella turned her head to look at me. She smiled that brilliant smile, which was pure Bella. I lifted my hand to her cheek and caressed the skin gently. Her big brown eyes only widened for a second as they normally did.

"I'm so..." her finger touched my lips before I got any further into my apology. She shook her head a few times at me.

"Don't... okay? Just don't... I get it. There's nothing to apologise for, so let's just forget it, okay?" She whispered as she removed her finger from my lips, but not before I got to plant a small kiss on it. I her quick intake of unneeded air was the only reaction I got.

"I... Okay." I hated that she never wanted my apologies. Never, she disapproved of it, said it was all water under the bridge. I didn't agree, but I didn't have it in me to argue with her, not anymore.

She smiled at me and leaned back into the pillows. Her hand found mine and she twined her fingers through mine. I looked stunned at our entwined hands; this was not a part of the whole no-reaction thing.

"Why do you insist on reading that book continually, love? You already know it by heart," I asked, trying to get over the shock of our joined hands. I shook my head; I was shocked over holding hands with my wife. What was wrong with me?

"Habits, Edward... plus, you can never get enough of Shakespeare." She said and laughed a sound that made me think of small, tinkling bells. I smiled at her and nodded my head.

"I love you," I whispered and leaned over to kiss her on the lips, no reaction or not, I needed to kiss my wife, damn it.

"Me too," she whispered as I released her lips. She laid her head on my stomach and I started playing with her beautiful hair. It was quiet, peaceful and completely undisturbed.

Everybody was relaxing, doing extracurricular activities that I could easily live without hearing. I knew Charlotte and Carlisle were talking together, probably about her starting in High School. Though I knew she was against it, and to be quite honest, so was I. I knew that Charlotte had a superb control over herself, but this was humans, every day, even I still felt the pull when I went to school, and Charlotte had only managed to stay away from our preferred choice of nectar for two years. Being at a High School would be the same as a buffet. And I was afraid that she wouldn't manage to do it abstain herself from the amazing offer.

_What is it you fear? Stop thinking about Char and think about your wife, Ed!_ Jasper's thoughts brought me out of my slightly panicked state.

"Where did you go?" She whispered as she leisurely lifted her head to look at me. My hand fell from her hair to her cheek.

"it was nothing," Her smile fell two millimetres and it left her eyes, she nodded slowly and leaned back down, this time laying her head on the pillow.

"Bella, I'm sorry, it just that..." but I was interrupted, by a loud crash and screeching voice that could only belong to one person.

"CARLISLE, FORGET IT!!" Charlotte all but screamed, and I knew that he had told her about the whole going to school thing. I could hear Bella sigh beside me, while she turned her back on me. I wanted to go and talk to them, but I knew that wasn't what Bella needed right now. So sneaked my arms around her waist and pulled her close to me. She sighed and leaned her head back to look at me.

"hmm... I've missed this," she whispered and smiled softly. I nodded and kissed her forehead.

"You know..." I was once again interrupted.

"NO WAY!! I MEAN IT!!!" She was screaming. Maybe I should go talk to her. No, she could handle herself, she was a big girl. She hated it when I started meddling with her business. I sighed.

"Edward? Go... talk to her... It's okay." She whispered and smiled at me, a real smile this time. I shook my head at her.

"No, I don't have to go... I'll just stay right here," I said and kissed her shoulder, then her neck... proceeded on to her jaw and finished off with a small peck on her beautiful lips. I heard that lovely sigh I had been waiting for the whole day. The one that told me, she enjoyed this; the one that told me that the no-reaction phase was over... for now. Until I did something stupid, which I knew would be soon, too soon.

She turned around to look at me, and for one short moment I was completely flabbergasted. She might think that I was the one who was dazzling her, but in reality? She was far more dazzling than I would ever be. I blinked and then I blinked again, willing myself to do more than look at my wife like an idiot. Nothing happened. She smirked at me; she had me figured out.

But I, myself, couldn't stop the smile forming on my lips as I felt her hands inching towards my hair. As she finally gripped two handfuls of my hair, and pushed my face towards her, my lips touching hers like they were meant to. I at last felt like I was home.

"HIGH SCHOOL? YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!!" I heard Bella groan as Char once again screamed at Carlisle. I could hear from the thoughts of the others that she was starting to get on their nerves; which I understood completely.

"Just go down there... please, for me, because... She's..." She cut herself of and sent a gust of air into my face, making me lose my trail of thought for a moment. Everything about this woman was entrancing and magical, what I had done to deserve this woman, I don't know. But I would spend the rest of eternity figuring that one out.

"NO, YOU DON'T GET TO DECIDE ANYTHING!" Bella raised eyebrows at me and her hands left my hair and I already craved for their touch; before they had even touched the bed. She looked at me expectantly, obviously waiting for me to leave the bed. But I wouldn't have it. This was too good.

"For God's sake Edward! She's killing the mood... She's... just go... and do whatever it is you usually do when you make her go silent," she finished her little rant off with a push that made me hit the door gently.

"'You're sure?" I asked one more time, I knew how she felt about Char. She smiled confidently at me and nodded her head. I sighed and opened the door, turned my head to smile at her and then walked out.

_You need my help? _Jasper asked, _she's furious, go calm her down. Go do your thing, I can already feel that you don't need my help yet. Yet being the keyword my dear brother. _I could hear the small chuckle that escaped Jasper from upstairs. I smiled and braced myself for the yelling, I was sure I would receive as soon as I opened that office door.

I was, as usual, right. It started out in my head. _YOU IDIOT! Go back to Bella, I don't need you here. I can fight my own battles, and I do not need you down here, trying to make me see sense in this ludicrous! _

"Edward, go away! We're just discussing," I scoffed at this, but she chose to not take any notice of it, and carried on, "I mean it Edward. I'm a big girl, I can handle myself, now turn around and walk. Out. That. DOOR!" her voice got louder and louder, until a certain point that made me think of metal against metal, nails being dragged down a blackboard and forks hitting plates the wrong way, creating a screeching noise; which made everybody flinch. There was a reason as to why I hated arguing with her. My ears always felt terrible afterwards.

"Char... calm down and think about this rationally. It's just school, we all have to go through it... and trust me, staying at home all the time will get boring. School is just an alternative, that you should consider trying," with that I sat down in one of the chairs, crossing my arms over my chest, looking at her expectantly.

"That was your big, great speech _Eddie_? You really think something like that would make me change my mind?" She let out a cruel laugh and shook her head at me, "'School is just an alternative, that you should consider trying'" she said, imitating my voice and laughing that tormenting laugh once again. I was still cringing after her use of that inane nickname, everybody thought worked flawlessly with my name. It didn't.

"Seriously Edward, I'm, to be quite frank with you, tremendously disappointed in you. I really thought you would at least come in here with some good points... but that was just a heartless approach, that made me think that you may not think this is even a good idea... but that could just be me..." she said trailing off, looking at me with a smirk and then turning to look at Carlisle..

"See even he thinks it's a bad idea... let's just drop this, shall we?" Carlisle groaned at her words, and frowned at me, as I was clearly not helping.

I heard a soft groan from upstairs, and the soft footsteps, that sounded distinctly of Jasper walking down the stairs.

_Aw, don't feel defeated, I knew you wouldn't be able to do this by yourself. _Jasper thought, mentally laughing. Charlotte heard his footsteps too, and narrowed her eyes at me.

"Calling for a back up? And here I thought you were the smart one, shouldn't you be able to do this by yourself?" I just stopped listening to her; she wanted to get a rise out of me.

"Charlotte... listen to me, you need to start school, you don't have to take our name and you don't have to act as if you like us, I just need to have you in school, it will help with the pretence. Plus it will help you refraining from killing a human," Charlotte opened her mouth to say something to Carlisle, but Jasper cut her off,

"I know Emmett killed a human... and it happens, it's only Carlisle, Rose and Bella that are freaks... and really, you only have to do this for 8 more years, and then you can start killing again... so just go to school... And abstain from killing anyone for a couple of years?" she was quiet for a couple of seconds, making Jasper and Carlisle look hopeful for a moment.

"Bull shit! I don't want to be a hostage in a big building filled hormonal, sweaty, gooey and just plain disgusting teenagers... just to test myself... even I can see that is wrong... and I could test myself, while doing something pleasant; like shopping. NO SCHOOL!" She bellowed at them and found a chair in the other end of the room.

I leaned my head back, leaning it against the wall closing my eyes. I could hear all the feet hitting the floor, running down the stairs, hurrying in their half human, half vampire pace that made Charlotte annoyed at them. She huffed as they entered the door. She turned to look at them and shook her head.

"Why are you all here? This was a discussion between Carlisle and I, it's enough that _Eddie _interrupted us... we don't need the rest out you interfering with MY business, GET OUT!" her screaming was getting a little old and the Eddie thing... we would talk about that later.

"Charlotte there is nothing to discuss... this is final. You do not get a say in this, understood?" Carlisle said in his "Dad" voice that he usually used on us, when he was all business. And it was the wrong approach. You never show authority when you're talking to Char, NEVER. He should be the first one to agree with me.

"Carlisle, do you remember that time when Aro and Marcus were discussion that thing about Jane? You know when Jane did that thing... and we kind of ruined it?" I opened my eyes to look at her. That was not the response I had expected.

"Yes, why?" Carlisle sounded almost amused, while Char had sounded very vague. Then he chuckled gently to himself. "Oh Charlotte, threatening me with old stories is not going to get you out of this. Stop being so childish!" he ended with a harsh tone in his voice.

"Childish? CHILDISH?! Do you really want to go there? I am older than you, so you do not get to call me childish, at all. I don't want to go to school and THAT is final! Don't act like my dad, because you are not and DO NOT call me childish. Okay... I am over 8000 thousand years old... and you haven't even reached your first millennia yet... so you are the one who's being childish..." she finished of her rant, which made me open my eyes and look at her. Her whole body was tense; her knees bend into a superficial crutch that was meant to scare of any form of attack, something she always did if she felt any kind of danger. It happened all the time in Italy.

"Now who's being childish?" I asked her gently, I would not be the one to raise my voice tonight. Her head snapped towards me and she narrowed her eyes; trying to make me crumble under her stare. It was not going to happen.

"Shut up _Eddie_," She said in her evil voice that would have made humans shake. Still I didn't move. It would bring her too much pleasure. And I was not in the mood for that.

I shook my head at her and closed my eyes, leaning my head back, sighing softly. There was a quiet moment for one little second and the room exploded. Everybody talked at the same time and Char's voice was getting higher and higher. I heard the footsteps hitting the stairs softly as Bella started walking down the stairs. She was taking her time, and I couldn't help but wonder why she was even coming downstairs. She rarely joined us for all the Charlotte-discussions. Or well... she never joined us. She was taking her time and I knew Charlotte noticed it as her shoulders started tensing up.

Suddenly my Bella came into view as she leaned against the door frame. Her face was blank and she looked like she had all the time in the world. Which she in theory did, but still, Bella hated confrontation.

"Are you done?" said the soft, blank whisper from the door. Everybody turned to look at Bella, except Alice, who turned and blinked at me. _Have I ever told you how much I love your wife? _I smiled at her and nodded.

"Excuse me?" Charlotte said, sounding kind of confused.

"I said are you done acting like a three year old, because to tell you the truth it's kind of draining? So you have to go to school, big deal. We all go to school and we don't complain half as much as you do. Really Charlotte... I don't care if you go to school or not but..." She closed her eyes and bit her lip, looking thoughtful, "But if it will make you shut up then... Go to school and I will cut a year off from our bet," she almost whispered in a broken voice that left me confused, and at the same time I felt the dread running through my body. Then I would only have 7 years left with her...

I looked at Charlotte and saw her eyes widening in surprise, a small smile was slowly forming on her lips. Everything in that moment stopped for me. That warm, liquid and utterly comforting feeling washed over me. I could feel the goofy smile on my mouth and I knew I looked like an idiot. I was basking in the feeling of Charlotte. And I would have kept on doing it if it wasn't for a little whimper.

My head snapped towards Bella as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. I had fucked up. And before I could even start sending her apologetic looks, Charlotte's incredulous voice broke through that haze of my thought and demanded my attention.

"So wait... you're just taking a year off the ten years... just like that... wait. Why?" Charlotte ran a hand through her hair as she continued to look at Bella, who was staring right back at her with a blank stare.

"Because I don't want to hear anymore of this, and if removing one of the ten years will do that, then I will gladly remove it. It will get you to shut up... and I need that," Bella almost forced the words out of her mouth, while she looked like she was in a tremendous amount of pain.

_Edward. You are an idiot! _Jasper's thought hit my suddenly and I turned my head to look at him. He only frowned at me and turned to look pointedly at Bella. I knew what he meant. I nodded and sighed.

"There's a catch isn't there? There is something you're not telling me... I can see that you are lying," Bella rolled her eyes at Charlotte and raised her pinkie.

"Listen... we can even do the pinkie swear if that will make you believe. Because I swear that I am not lying and that the years that you have to abstain human blood has been reduced from 10 to 9... Okay... There's no catch. All you have to do is go to school and stop complaining. You think you can do that?" Bella said and sighed one of her very deep sighs.

Charlotte didn't say anything; she just walked over to Bella, lifted her pinkie to Bella and wrapped it around hers. And for one single moment, the two women that meant everything to me looked each other in the eye and something happened. It was as if some form of message passed between the two of them. It left Bella looking heartbroken and Charlotte looking furious. Bella nodded and so did Charlotte as she untangled her finger from Bella's and turned to walk back to her chair. Bella walked out the door, leaving me feeling useless... less than 20 minutes ago I had promised myself that I wouldn't hurt her... and I just did.

_YOU ARE USELESS... GO UP THERE AND GROWL AT HER FEET... you stupid, stupid IDIOT!!!_ Charlotte's thoughts hit me with the same amount of screeching as her voice had held just a few minutes ago. It gave me the sudden urge to put my hands over my ears and tune out the sound. I didn't, my hands only twitched. I could hear her sigh impatiently at me, and start tapping her foot against the hardwood floor.

I didn't look at her. I didn't need to see her disappointment too. Mine was great enough; I didn't need to feel hers too. She apparently didn't have any form of patience today.

"Are you going to sit here all day, Edward?" she asked me in a gently voice, that made my head snap towards her eyes. She was being nice. Why? I was so shocked that I didn't move. I was stunned to say the least. She then motioned to door and smiled at me. I got up from my chair and walked past her with a smile upon my face.

_Idiot! _She thought which made my smile falter a little. She wasn't even lying. I knew I was an idiot, I kept doing this to Bella and I didn't know how to change it. And that was what made me frustrated, you're not supposed to hurt the one you love. You're not supposed to do it time and time again. But I did... and I didn't have any idea as to how to go back to before. When everything was easy, simple and just... the way it was supposed to be. I never thought it would change. But it did, and I couldn't go back, couldn't change it. Bella didn't deserve this and as I walked up the stairs, I felt a sudden urge to just leave her alone.

I didn't listen to my instincts and went up the stairs; slowly, alerting her that I would be there soon. I opened the door to the bedroom, walked in and closed it lightly behind me.

I looked at her.

She didn't look back. Not that I had expected it.

She had picked up her book again and was currently reading it. She did not raise her head at me. Not when I moved towards the bed, especially not when I laid down on the bed. When I tried to touch her arm soothingly, she moved it away and rested her hand against her cheek. She turned a page, then another one. I started counted the pages, to see how many she would reach until she looked at me.

30 pages... no response, not even one single look.

45 pages... still no response.

53 pages... she looked at me. I looked back at her. Not knowing what to say, not knowing how to apologise without her interrupting me. I was lost. So I said the first thing that when through my head.

"See, how she leans her cheek upon her hand! O that I were a glove upon that hand, that I might touch that cheek," I whispered as she turned her head back to her book. She shook her head and turned yet another page.

"A gentleman, nurse, that loves to hear himself talk, and will speak more in a minute than he will stand to in a month," she said in a low, monotone voice that made her sound as if she were a ghost. Her eyes never left the page.

"I love thee, I love but thee. With a love that shall not die. Till the sun grows cold, and the stars grow old." Her head didn't turn. Her eyes never left her book and I closed my eyes, knowing that I would have to do more than quote Shakespeare, to make her forgive me. My hand touched her arm; she didn't pull it back, but her whole body tensed, so _I_ pulled my hand back. Giving her the time out she needed.

Char was out hunting, while the family was still downstairs. Their thoughts were happy, content; glad that this discussion was finally over. I could hear them moving around, somebody leaning against the couch. All in all, nothing new… they were deliberately not thinking about Bella and I, which I was grateful for.

"Hey… if the devil rules the world... who rules the devil?" Emmett asked thoughtfully...

_Good question... I wish I knew the question. _


	3. AN, VERY IMPORTANT!

_**HI GUYS!! **_

_**first of all.. THIS IS NOT A NEW CHAPTER!! **_

_**but we wanted to tell you all that we've posted a new story, called Beat The Reaper. **_

_**it's Canon and All Human, and we wanted you all to know, so you could see read it and tell us what you thought about it. **_

_**here's the summary:**_

_**He's a surgeon with a past...He's a hit man with a sense of right and wrong...And he's got 24 hours to beat the reaper. Edmund Vargas, is a young Seattle surgeon with an strange past that is just about to catch up with him. Because Edmund's new patient knows him from his other life, when he had a different name and a very different job. The only reason he's a surgeon now is thanks to the Witness Protection Program - and even that can't protect him from the long reach of the Chicago Mob. Now he's got to buy some time to do whatever it takes to keep his patient - and himself - alive. **_

_**Here it is.. it's our little baby and we want you all to read it. :D **_

_**- Louise and Charlotte. (;**_

_**oh yeah.. and to all of you faithful readers, who have been waiting for a Problems of Peace update.. well.. **_

_**right night I am stuck writing it, and BTR is on my mind and really..**_

**_POP will be finished at some point, but right now.. it's on Hiatus.. sorry guys.. hope you'll be okay.. /;_**


	4. Too Much School Will Kill You

**_A/N: so yeah.. we decided that maybe we should give you all a chapter.. because you deserve it.. so well.. here you have chapter 3. and just so you all remember this.._**

**_THIS IS A EDWARD AND BELLA STORY! it might not seem like that... just remember that!!!_**

**_thanks for the reviews, your patience and alerts and favs! _**

**_-Charlotte & Louise. _**

**_DISCLAIMER: S. Meyer owns everything, but charlotte... she's ours. _**

_Instinct is an untaught ability - Alexander Bain_

3. Too Much School Will Kill You.

CPOV

Driving in a car filled with four annoyed vampires is not as funny as it sounds. Then you take to people who doesn't talk to each other, a person who can see the future, one who can feel what you feel and one who can hear what you're thinking and mix them together and put them in a car... Then you have my life. If I could live through this trip, then I would surely survive school.

"You can't go outside in any of the breaks, especially the lunch break. The sun will break through the clouds," was Alice's attempt of breaking up the awkward tension in the car.

We all, of course, knew that we couldn't go outside; she had told us four times already. But nobody wanted to interrupt her. Edward was driving; Bella sat next to him in the front seat. Then we had Jasper, Alice and me in the back. Rosalie and Emmett were driving in a separate car.

I hated them.

It wasn't because it was Alice, jasper and I made the tension. No, no. it was the lovely couple in the front. They actually succeeded in making everything filled with awkward tension. Maybe it was the fact that I was here. Or it was, but still. The tension was growing old and the idiocy that was Edward was making me want to kill someone.

"We know Alice, we know. You've told us four times, I think we get it now," was Edward's annoyed reply. He was annoyed all the time.

A sigh filled the car. I looked at Bella; well I looked at her hand. She was still looking out of the window, not giving Edward one single look. But her hand… her hand was slowly inching towards his, until it reached its destination and twined her fingers through his. His face snapped towards hers, trying the gauge her mood, with no success.

He looked in the review mirror and caught my eye. And then he sent me that god awful look. And in a split second it looked like that this time, this time, he would get away with it. But the gasp came. The gasp that was filled with so much heartache and pain, that I for just a second felt it too. And then the sound of a hand being dropped came. I looked at Alice, who was looking intently at Jasper. He had his eyes closed while his face betrayed one feeling, pain.

Easy to say, I hated Edward Cullen.

Trying to deflate the awful tension I looked at Alice and smiled a kind of real smile.

"So, we go to school, have classes, don't go outside. We do not eat, we do not talk with anybody and oh yeah… we act like complete kiss asses, am I right?" I asked her, while her smile grew bigger.

"Well you can eat if you really feel like it. Kiss asses… well yeah, because then we can actually stay away from school when the sun is shining. As for the talking with people, you can if you want to… they normally don't want to talk to us. But yeah, something like that," I nodded at her smiling. Jasper had recovered and was now trying to fill the car with a good vibe, cue the smile.

"You're forgetting one thing, Char," I turned my head towards the Edward. I rolled my eyes.

"And what is that, _Eddie_?" I said. I had an idea what it was he wanted to say. He had been saying it for the last days… annoying me and the rest of the family.

"Don't kill anyone," he said while looking at the road. We all groaned, even Bella. "I mean it! You shouldn't be here. You should be at home, this is a bad idea and you all know that. You're not ready for this," I took a deep breath.

"How about we let me be the judge of my control? And just stop this Edward! I said yes, end of the discussion, now how about we all forget about this? School is just something I have to endure like the rest of you," I said turned to look out of the window.

"I just think that y-" he was cut off.

"Edward. Just let it go, okay?" Bella said in an impossible tired voice. There was silence in the car. Alice looked calm, in a weird and painful way, while Jasper looked very confused.

I shook my head and looked at the building we were closing in on. A red brick building, filled with hormonal teenagers, who only thought about sex and that cute boy… yes, school was something I would endure, never enjoy.

"Okay…" I heard Edward whisper as he parked the car. We all got out of it. Rosalie and Emmett were smirking at us, until they took a look at Bella. We all thought the same thing.

It was one of those days.

We walked towards the main building looking for the office. The smell of blood was overwhelming, but I found comfort in looking at Jasper and seeing the same overwhelmed expression. I took a deep breath, feeling burn in my throat and then I did what the rest of them did. I ignored it.

They were all walking in couples, though Bella and Edward had some room between them. I frowned at that. Edward needed to man up; this was getting out of hand. If he didn't watch out Bella would leave him.

We walked into the office were this young guy was sitting at a desk. It smelled like cigarettes, sweat, apples and some kind of flower… maybe lavender. Oh yeah, and blood. I closed my eyes and smiled.

_Just smell it, you don't need to taste it… only smell, Char. _

I opened my eyes and found the guy staring at us, especially at me and Bella. I clearly wasn't the only one who noticed, because suddenly Edward's arm was a around Bella's waist and he was pulling her close to him. She looked stunned for a moment, before she looked at the clerk sitting and the desk and understanding clouded her eyes. She was thinking the same thing I was.

_He was being protective. _

Jasper fake coughed to bring the guy out of his daze, he probably played a little on his fear, because the guys face turned from lust filled to fearful in a matter of seconds. I had the sudden need to pat Jasper on the back. Alice smiled at me, she saw it.

"Oh yes… excuse me. Can I-I-I he-elp you?" he kind of stammered as he looked at Jasper, poor kid.

"Yes we are here to pick up our schedules, new students?" Edward said, while the guy just stared.

_Oh my God._

"Yes.. ehm... All of you? Are you a family or..." Edward looked at Jasper, trying to find the right way to explain it all… I sighed and rolled my eyes, did I really have to do this? I looked at all of them. Their clueless faces and Alice's smiling one, told me yes.

"Listen, Emmett and Bella are biological siblings, adopted into the family, the same thing for Jasper and Rosalie who are twins. Alice is also adopted. And then there is me and Edward, we are siblings also adopted by Dr. Cullen and Mrs. Cullen. To make this fairly simply we are the Cullens and there are seven of us. Now could you please find our schedules and fast? We don't want to be late, do we?" I said while pointing at all of them and the finishing with a small smile.

The guys just nodded at me and found all the schedules gave them to us and just stared at us. We all walked out, while they looked at the schedules trying to figure who had which subjects and with whom. I looked at mine. Biology, English, Spanish, Calculus, History, P.E and Visual Arts. Sounds boring to me.

"Here take mine, find out who is going to be my protectors for the day, " I said and handed my schedule to the closest person. Who was Alice, she just smiled at me, before she turned to look at the schedules.

"History with Edward, English and P.E with all of us, calculus with Edward and Bella, Visual Arts with me, Biology with Edward and… and…" I looked at her, but she was looking at Bella, who was just staring at the papers?

"And Spanish with me, so yeah. Well I have civics, bye," She said and turned away from us and walked down the corridor. I just smiled and looked at Edward.

"Relax Edward, I like her, we'll survive," Then I looked at his schedule and frowned, "Edward, get going! You have civics too!" I hissed at him, he just stared at me and turned around, to walk down the same corridor that Bella had just left seconds ago.

Emmett, Rosalie and Jasper looked at me and Alice. Their look said everything. They didn't know what the hell to do with him either.

"Can't you just hide it, Charlotte?" Jasper said with an almost pleading tone.

"He has to realise himself, me hiding it will do no good. Rosalie don't give me that look, it's true… me hiding it will just be me creating an illusion, it's only going to work a short time, him realising it will work better, especially for Bella," Rosalie narrowed her eyes at me, but nodded along with the rest of them.

"Oh well, see you guys at lunch, we have visual arts, Charlotte," Alice said and pulled me along with her. I liked Alice; she was nice in an overly bubbly way that suited her. I walked along with her to the dreading room filled with people who smelled way too good. We walked into the back of the room and sat next to each other. Everybody was looking at us.

Maybe it was our beauty, maybe it was because we unconsciously lured them in or maybe it was just the fact that we were the new chicks. Whatever it was, they stopped staring as soon as a middle aged guy came in and closed the door after him. He looked at all the students until his eyes fell on us. He also looked dazed.

_What is up with these people, never seen beautiful people or what?_

The teacher shook his head smiled at the class. "I see we have gotten some new students… what was it… Charlotte and Alice Cullen. Yes? Yes… well welcome to our Visual Arts class, now today we are going to talk about impressionism…" and I turned him out. He was one of those teachers who just walk and talk. In the beginning it's okay, but then it just annoys the hell out of you, because really. Can't the man just stand for a minute or two? Apparently not.

The others students in the class would turn and look at us from time to time that annoyed me too. The dazed stunning look they all wore made me hate being a vampire. And the smell, that wonderful, wonderful that filled the classroom was making my throat burn and my body humming. I could kill all them in a matter of seconds. No screams no nothing. I took a deep breath, it was too much, way too much. Suddenly a hand landed on top of my own.

"You can do this, there's only a couple of minutes left. You can do this Charlotte!" Alice whispered at vampire pitch, I closed my eyes and nodded at her. I just sat and stared at the clock on the wall willing the last two minutes to be over now. Finally the bell rang and I smiled.

_One down six to go. _

We got up from our seats, carrying our bags; I had history with Edward now. He was standing outside the door, waiting on me. He had this weird look upon his face, he looked confused maybe even scared. I smiled at Alice who walked past me. I really like the pixy.

"Edward? What happened?" I said softly. Just because he annoyed me, didn't mean that I should kick him when he was lying down. That was beyond me.

"I… I don't know, Char?" he said it as a question, he was shaking his head softly.

"So, history? Any idea where that is?" I asked, he only nodded and started walking. I smiled and followed him, wonder what had happened in civics. We walked into the class and the same staring and same kind of teacher followed. Edward was silent, staring into space.

"Edward, what did she say? What happened?" he turned to look at me.

"She took a table for herself. She… she sat next to a human, willingly, Char… I know I am hurting her… but willingly?" he shook his head, "What am I supposed to do?" he had turned his head to look out of the window, he whispered in a broken whisper, just loud enough for me to hear it.

"Kiss her,"

"What do you mean kiss her? Like that is going to fix anything… what kind of advice is that? Charl-" I put my hand on his mouth, shutting him up.

"Kiss her, hold her hand, hug her… carry her books or whatever. Show her that you actually care about her, because this? This is getting the two of you nowhere! You are hurting her and she is… broken Edward… and you are the only one in the whole world who can fix her…." I stopped for a moment and wrinkled my nose in distaste, "And my God, I sound like a girl… just… Kiss her!" I whispered and looked him in the eye. He nodded, but his eyes betrayed him, because he was looking at me with that look again. I wanted to slap him, but…

_You do not kick a man who is already lying down, Char_

Class ended quickly. Being spend the same way as before, me almost trying to kill them, but then holding back because there was only a few minutes left till class ended. We were going to have English together after that. With Bella and Alice. Sometimes I wished Jasper were in some of my classes, he could make everybody calm. I needed that.

When we walked out of the class room I looked at Edward and smiled. "Just kiss her," I whispered and walked towards Alice and Bella.

I looked at Edward and nodded. He walked towards Bella who looked up at him in confusion; he then leaned down and kissed her very, very quickly. It looked like a habit. He then leaned back while she just stared at him a confused fascination. He then wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her along the corridor. Alice smiled gratefully at me.

"Thank you," she whispered.

"Don't thank me… It's my fault." Alice opened her mouth to interrupt me, "Don't Alice, please don't…" she thankfully closed her mouth again. We walked towards English class, not speaking, just in a comfortable silence, though I think she could feel my tension from her thanking me.

They were sitting together when we walked into class. Their hands were twined together and Bella was still looking a little puzzled. The fact that she did said a lot about their relationship.

Alice and I took our seats next to each other. English class was the same as the others, a lot of staring, a lot of tasty humans and a teacher who couldn't stand still. I looked at Edward and Bella a lot, simply because Bella's reaction never changed. There was a tension that never her shoulders, her eyes showed confused and maybe even some fear, why? Alice answered that.

"She's afraid he will leave. She always thinks he's going to leave," she whispered for my ears only. I nodded softly. I had done this.

_Nice one Charlotte. _

I leaned back in my chair and looked at the black board; Romeo and Juliet, of course. The story loses its greatness, when you lived around the times it was written and when you had photographic memory. I got why they all were straight A's students, it couldn't be that hard.

Class ended and I had Biology with a dazed Edward. We didn't talk. He just sat there and stared at the black board, taking notes because he thought we had to keep up with the pretences, which we did, so I took up a piece of paper and started scribbling. Class finally ended and it was lunch time, all of the students seemed to share a mutual sigh I didn't understand.

I walked out class with Edward in tow. The rest of them joined us as we went up to get out props. The smell was disgusting to me and as I looked at the grease dripping from the pizza and the fries, I almost felt sorry for all the humans, almost. I filled a tray with some kind of food, took some cutlery, paid for it and went down to the table the rest of them were sitting at. They all sat playing around with their food. I had gotten some grease on my hand, so I went up to find something to wipe it off I found a paper towel this guy came up to me.

"Hey, you are Charlotte Cullen right? I am in your English class," I smiled at the kind of good looking guy standing in front of me.

"Yeah, I noticed, so what is your name?" I bit my lip, looking innocent. His eyes widened and he swallowed a lump from his throat.

"I am Daniel Green… so I just wanted to tell you that.. uhm, if you ever need some help to find your way around here, I would be happy to help you," I smiled at his nervousness and nodded.

"I'll find you if I ever need you, Daniel Green… but I… have to go back to my table now," I said and pointed toward the Cullens whom were all staring at me like I was crazy. He nodded.

"Yeah, of course… yeah… so see you around?" I nodded.

"See you around," and then I turned towards my table and sat down, "You know, these humans are very cute," I said as I started cutting my food into little pieces. I then stabbed a piece with my fork and almost lifted it to my mouth, then looked at all of them.

"What?" I said directly across Edward who was looking at me furiously.

"What was that? Are you insane? You could have killed that boy," I took a deep breath and looked at his plate.

"Oh my god, I love these," I said it a little too loud so people at the tables around us could hear what I was saying, I then took a couple of fries from his plate and placed them on my own.

"Stopping ignoring the question, Char! What the hell?" What Edward failed to notice, was the fact that Bella had let go of his hand and was now looking at the plate in front of her.

"I talked with a boy, so what? You all said that I should keep up pretences, and that's what I'm doing. So stop complaining!" I said while messing with my food.

"But…" and then he looked at me, that look that made his eyes almost liquid. It made me feel bad almost as if I had to vomit. Suddenly a loud smack on the table sounded.

"Can't you just let it go, Edward?" I looked at Emmett who was glaring at Edward with eyes that could kill.

"Em, I just think she should be a little more careful, that's all," I smiled at all of them, trying to deflate the situation before it got out of hand. They could do that at home.

"I think our teachers sucks… not just a little or something, they literally suck. What's up with the whole walk and talk at the same time. I think they are giving me a whiplash with all the back and forth walking. Or is that just me?" I looked at them all, hoping that at least one of them would pick up on the desperation in my voice. Jasper did.

"Yeah, it's frustrating, my AP History teacher did that too. I hoped he would sit down at least for a minute or two, but no no… he had to walk around all the time, it was as if I was sitting and watching a tennis match," he said and laughed softly.

"Well my teacher made me stand up and introduce myself. I was of course my charming self, but still. Why did I have to do that? But at least my teacher was cracking jokes and making fun of everybody in the class," Emmett said and guffawed loudly, making a kid at the table next to us jump from seat.

It was as if Emmett made everybody more comfortable. So I stopped talking and let him take over the show. Soon the break was over and we left Rosalie, Emmett and Jasper and walked towards P.E. class. Fortunately this lesson was only theory. So we only had to sit on the bleachers and listening to the coach talk about volleyball. Why is the coach always named something like coach clapp? I mean, is that just the world being mean or what? This class ended quickly, because the teacher let us go before time.

Apparently everybody was overly excited about this, I didn't get it. It's not as if you got to go home before, there was still to lessons left. Two stupid lessons. And then I could get 'home' and hunt. Though it was only a deer or mountain lion I could deal. We walked down the hall ways trying to pass time, when suddenly Bella's phone rang; she looked at the number and smiled a blinding smile.

"Nessie, how are you doing?" she said in the most loving voice I'd ever heard. That was motherly love for sure. Alice smiled beside me and Edward stopped mid step and smile a just as blinding smile.

"Yes he's right here if you want to talk to him. Yes, I know, I know. Now tell Jacob I said hello. Yeah.. I love you too," she handed the phone to Edward, who showed fatherly pride as he listened to her talking.

"Sounds good, but don't you think you should stay at home? Come on I can be worried if I want to, Ness," he actually did look worried, but then he relaxed and smiled again.

"Okay then. Get some rest and say hello to the pack?" he laughed out loud, "and to Jacob, satisfied? Bye," he hung up and handed the phone to Bella… and then the most amazing thing happened. It was as if gravity pulled the two of them together, because suddenly they were in each other's arms, kissing and smiling like never before.

"Come on, they'll be like this for a while. You already know that," I nodded and walked with Alice. She was smiling. It was this conspiring smile. She looked the cat who caught the canary. I looked at the clock on the wall and sighed, ten minutes till class started. The doors to the different classrooms opened and chatter filled the rooms. Alice left me to get to the other end of the school, she had trigonometry.

_Blood. Everywhere. Beating hearts._

The guy from lunch walked towards, with a small nervous smile upon his lips. I swallowed the venom that was pooling in my mouth and smiled at him, in a flirting way, might as well live a little.

"Hi, lost?" He asked with a little jumpy chuckle. I had to give the guy some credit, he was really trying. Right now he was fighting every single instinct in his body, to stand this close to me, but then again my smile was luring him in.

"Kind of. My friends abandoned me. So yeah I'm lost," he smiled and looked at the schedule I was holding in my hand.

"Calculus? It is right down the corridor, you want me to show you?" I nodded and he walked with me, his nervousness was making his heart beat faster. I took a deep breath. God, he smelled amazing.

_Don't do it Charlotte. Not now. _

We stopped walking, him smiling awfully uncomfortable at me.

"So I'll see you around?" I nodded while smiling.

"Yes.. And thanks for.. Showing me around?" he nodded and turned around, walking over to his friends, one of them patted his shoulder, while the other whopped at him, earning a punch in the stomach. Teenage boys, they were so cute in a delicious way. I once again swallowed the venom.

I walked into the classroom and sat in the back, nobody sat next to me, thank God. Edward and Bella walked into the classroom just as the bell was ringing, they took the table in front of me. I quickly looked away and put on some new contact lenses. I loved the vampire speed, nobody noticed. To them it just looked like I was touching my eyes or something.

The teacher came in and the whole show started again. Walking and talking, then staring, then more walking, more talking. Hearts beating…

_Tump, tump, tump. _

Walking, talking… staring, staring.

_Tump, tump, tump._

I took a deep breath. Blood.

_Tump, tump. Tump. Tump._

I zoned out, staring at the black board. My body was on alert. Everything was tense and I knew I was only a minute away from snapping the table in two.

"Stop breathing. Just don't," I looked at the people in front of me. Edward was looking at Bella, while she just looked tensely at the black board. She had tried to help me. I stopped.

"Recite a dictionary or something to drown out the heartbeats. You will get used to it," Bella turned around to look at me for a second, I glanced at her bewildered. What was this?

The bell rang and all of the students all but ran out of the room. Edward was watching me intently.

"I told you this was a bad idea!" he was frowning as he said it. Bella groaned and pulled him out of his chair.

"Get going, you have music… you can go all protective on her at home!" she kissed him and pushed him out of the door. She then turned to me, "You ready?" I nodded and walked with her out of the door.

"Thanks..." I whispered, she didn't answer, just walked ahead of me. And then as we turned to the left.

"Don't thank me… I didn't do it for you," of course she didn't. I didn't expect her, out of anyone, to think about me and my feelings. She walked ahead of me, dazzling all of boys who turned to look at her. Vampire abilities, poor human, they didn't see it coming.

"Hey?" ah yes… my new favourite human.

"Hi, Daniel," I smiled again, reciting Romeo and Juliet in Italian, as I moved my shoulders so it looked like I was breathing, while I still maintained the flirty, yet carefree smile upon my lips. I was a bad ass at multitasking. "you're having Spanish too?" it was quite obvious, but it was called small talking and I think Carlisle said I had to be polite or whatever.

"Yeah…" he coughed, he was too cute, "yeah, I do… so uhm.. you, want to sit next to me, unless you.. uhm.. have anyone else you have to sit next to?"And then he smiled this smile that made me smile. How could I say no to that? How could anyone say no to that?

I walked with him into the classroom, sitting down at the table. Bella was looking intently at the black board and then at the teacher. This teacher this something miraculously, she down on the table and started talking. I was so mesmerised by that fact that I couldn't look away from her. She was just sitting there talking without the walking. I wanted to give her a standing ovation, but then the scents and smell hit my with full force and I had to remember not to breath, so I gave up that idea.

Daniel was staring, but it was a good staring, a cute staring. If it wasn't because I was a vampire and I was very, very, very old… I would make even think about liking him. But he would just be a cute boy, and he would soon go to college, getting a girl and having children. I could have fun with the cute boy next to me any way, right?

"So where did you move from?" he asked, leaning his head on his hand, exposing his neck to my view. I could just lean over and bite. Only a sip that would be enough.

I started reciting Hamlet in Spanish.

"Chicago, Dad got a job opportunity he couldn't say no to... and well, Esme thought it was a good idea, so we all moved here… all nine of us," his eyes widened at the number nine.

"Nine? How many people are you?" I had to smile at his curiosity

"Theirs is Mum and Dad, then me and Edward," he looked weirdly at me, "Edward is my brother, well half brother, we have the father and the Cullens adopted us along with Bella and Emmett who are also biologically siblings, then Alice… and at last, Jasper and Rosalie who are twins. Mum and Dad can't get their own children, so they just adopted a bunch of them and now they live with seven teenagers," I said, trying to sound grateful, while biting my bottom lip. He smiled and shook his head at me creating a cocoon of his scent around me. I stopped breathing all together, just moving my shoulders from time to time.

_Tump. Tump. Tump. Tump._

"Wow, they sound like marvellous people. But from Chicago, that far away… do you miss it?" I think he expected me to say yes… but why would I say that?

"naah… not really, when you're that many people at home, why would you need friends?" I was a fantastic liar, always had been, always will be…

"I see yeah, we-" he was cut off by the bell. I shrugged my shoulders at him and collected my stuff from the table.

"See you tomorrow?" he asked with a hopeful expression. I smiled and nodded. Walking out of the room, and almost ran towards the car, with Bella in tow. I all but ripped the door opened and sat down. Bella sat in the front seat, next to a stunned Edward. Alice and Jasper was smiling at me.

"It's awful isn't it?" I nodded at Jasper, knowing he could feel my pain. I took out my contact lenses and took a deep breath.

"Thank God this day is over; I was this close at killing a cute English boy. And these contacts are annoying as hell. I can see the brown colour all the time and it is like there's a film over everything. Somebody please explain to me why I have to wear them once again?" I groaned as I blinked, finally seeing everything clearly.

"You have to wear them, because your eyes are freakishly golden, and we don't want to scare the humans away with your inhuman eyes. That's why!" Edward said harshly at me, I looked at him in review mirror.

"What is your problem, Edward?" I groaned. I could see Bella's shoulders drop in defeat, hear Jasper sigh and feel Alice's body become tense.

"You want to know what my problem is. You are my problem! You... what the hell were you thinking about? You were this close to cracking in Calculus…" he growled at me.

"Edward, just let it go okay?" Bella whispered as he gripped the wheel harder as he drove through the city.

"Bella? Just shut up and stay out of this, okay?" he hissed at her and looked at me through the review mirror.

"But I didn't Edward… and if it's about this boy, then get over it. It was harmless flirting. I was just trying to do what it was you all wanted me to do. Act human. Get over it! You are not the boss of me. I am older and wiser than you, so stop acting like my father or worse than that... stop acting like my goddamn husband! Okay?"

_Nice one, Charlotte. _

The silence in the car was deafening and I knew that this time. it wasn't only Edward who had screwed up. It was both of us.

The car ride seemed longer than in the morning. We left the city and started driving through the suburbs.. Then we left the suburbs and well at some point we drove up the long and narrow drive, till the car was parked in the garage. Bella fled the car, before the motor stopped. Jasper walked out and Alice turned around to look at both of us.

"One day… is that too much to ask for? One single day without this mess?" we didn't answer and she didn't expect us to. She walked out of the car and left us in the garage all alone. Emmett and Rosalie had been home for a while.

_I'm going hunting. See you tomorrow.. _

I didn't have it in me to speak. I ran out of the car into the forest that was close to the house.

* * *

**_REVIEW!!_**

**_and well.. I don't when the next chapter will be uploaded.. but you all needed the gift. :D _**


	5. I'll Pretend I'm Holding On

**_A/N: we suck.. we know that. Writing has not been on the top of my list for a very long time.. so I thought you all deserved an update. this is a short chapter.. but fear not, we have another and longer on the way. I hope you can all enjoy this. even though it has been a while.._**

**_Read, Love and Review._**

**_-Charlotte and Louise. _**

**_DISCLAIMER: S. Meyer owns everything but Charlotte.. she's ours. _**

4. I'll Pretend I'm Holding On

BPOV

His hand was softly caressing my sides. I couldn't believe that he was actually doing this. Didn't he think that I had him figured all out… of course he didn't, I was just Bella after all. I sighed and turned a page. I knew he was counting, in precisely two pages he would pull me closer to him, and then proceed to kiss my neck, give me that smile and think that everything would be okay. He thought life was that easy. I turned another page. One page left. His caresses stopped and I could almost feel his fingers itching to grab me and pull me closer, but there was still one page left. I turned the page.

"Don't!" I whispered and his arms stopped their movement as soon as the words had left my mouth. I didn't look at him. But I could imagine his jaw going slack while he looked at me confused. I couldn't look at him, because then he would look at me, with that look that would make me agree to anything he was saying.

"What is it?" he whispered with a weird tone that didn't fit his voice. Normally I would've turned to comfort him, but this time he didn't deserve it.

"Just don't do that today… I'm not in the mood for this today," I looked back at my book. I could see him frown next to me, I paid him no attention.

"What are you talking about, love?" oh now he was pulling out the big guns. Endearments, he usually didn't use those till much later.

"You know what I am talking about. Your little apologise routine. I am not up for it today. I am mad, don't try to change it," I said. God, he was annoying today.

"Routine? Bella what are you talking about?" I closed my book and look at him. Look was a term I used loosely, more like glared at him.

"What I am talking about? First you come in here and lie next to me on the bed. Then after I've read fifteen pages you move closer to me, after 10 more you start caressing my sides, then after twenty you will pull me close to you. And then you go in for the kill. You turn my head, look at me with that look, and then you kiss me, thinking that everything is forgotten. You usually get laid too," I spat at him. He was gazing at me, looking properly stunned.

Good.

"Bella… I… Wow," He stammered. Nice to see him looking for the words for at change.

"Save if for someone who cares, maybe you could go down and talk to your 'wife'. I am sure she would love to listen to your crap." I knew I should feel bad about talking like this to him, but I just felt relieved.

"Bella, come on…" he groaned at me, he actually groaned at me. Like this was no big deal.

"Well, she's right. You go around acting like she is your wife. I know that she told you kiss me, I'm not stupid Edward! You pulled me close to you in the office, because you wanted to show that I was yours, even though you were looking at Charlotte, with that look. You kissed me after you talked with Nessie… because that's what you normally do. But you know what? You yelled at her for talking to a human. One single human. And you go all protective on her. And because I do know better, I know that you acted like a jealous boyfriend!" I was yelling, but I couldn't take it anymore.

"I was not acting like a jealous boyfriend, give me a break! She talked to a human, even though we said that she shouldn't. She could have killed that boy. I was not jealous, I was trying to help her!" I bit the inside of my cheeks so I wouldn't scream at him, I didn't succeed.

"Edward Anthony Masen Cullen!" I yelled at him, while I jumped off the bed. He was sitting there staring at me, looked stunned, angry and… scared?

"I am not stupid. I know that you all seem to think that I am. But I am not stupid, I see the looks, I hear the double meanings. I see it all! Okay? I know that you love her, that you're jealous and that all you really wish for, is to go downstairs and kiss her senseless. Don't you think I see that?" I swallowed the imaginary lump from my throat.

"Bella, you know that's not true…" even this statement sounded heartless. He wasn't even trying to hide it anymore.

"You all say that you think about me, but you don't… none of you do! None of you! The only person who knows what the hell I am going through is Jasper. You don't even care about me…" I sat down on the bed with my back facing him.

"Bella…" know he thought using my name was a good enough sentence. What was wrong with this man?

"I hate you. I really, really hate you. You do know that right?" I heard the gasp, but I couldn't find it in myself to care.

"I… know," he was next to me. I could feel his eyes burning a hole into my skull, I didn't look at him. I was glad that Charlotte wasn't here today. I couldn't deal with her in the house right now.

"I hate that you love her," I was just talking now, stating a whole lot of facts that he already knew.

"I know," and he was just giving me that answer I wanted. Or what he thought I wanted.

"But do you? Really? Because with me and Jacob it was different, I loved him, but I never loved him as much as I loved you. And I always showed that. I also picked you over him and never looked back again. He also loved me back. She doesn't even love!" I was yelling again. I was standing again, looking him in the eye while I yelled. Suddenly he was standing right in front of me towering over me, glaring right back at me.

"don't you think I know that? I know that she doesn't love me. That the chance of her hating me is almost a hundred percent? I know, believe me I know, Bella. But what the hell do you expect me to do?" he was yelling too. This was good, we needed this.

"I expect you to try, goddammit Edward. I expect you to at least try to go one day without screwing up! One day without you looking at her like a lovesick puppy. One day without you acting like a jealous boyfriend. And one single day without you forgetting about me!" I screamed at him, I so close to jumping on him and fighting with him. So close. There was dead silent in the room. I was taking deep breaths trying to calm down, but I could tell that it wasn't working very well.

"I am the worst husband in history," He whispered as he flopped down on the bed. I nodded while crossing my arms across my chest. I could feel the guilt slowly forming in the back of my head. I should give him a break. But…

"Maybe it would be easier if I just-" he interrupted me in a frantic voice.

"Don't… please don't finish that sentence… Please!" he looked beside himself. His hands were in his hair

"Believe if I could change all this I would. I don't want to love her, I don't. it's just… I forgot you; I forgot everything about you and my love for you. And when you weren't there, I fell in love with her… I wish I didn't, but I did. I love you, I love you so much… but I love her too and I-I don't know what to do. I will do anything, just don't leave me… don't…" he trailed of and looked at me.

"Edward, I…"

"It's not that I forgot about you as a person, I saw you all the time. I just forgot my love for you, the fact that I couldn't live without you. You're my mate, of course I love you. But then suddenly, that bond was broken and I felt like I had no one. You were just a person I slept with in a house filled with my family. Charlotte was there, all the time… and I… I fell in love with her, Bella, because I didn't know anything about you and our love… and the fact that you were the one. She suddenly became the one. And then you came to Italy and Charlotte stopped hiding our bond and I remembered… I hate this, I hate this so much. Because of this I am in love with two women, one who hates my guts and one who is hurting every single day. I don't know what to do... I could get Charlotte to hide my bond to her. Just tell me what to do and I will do it, Bella," He looked at me pleading. If he had been human he would be crying.

"No… you are not going to do that," I sighed. He looked confused, which I understood, "you are not going to do that, because that is not fair, to you and me. Mostly because I would walk around and know that you in reality love her, even though you wouldn't feel it anymore. And well, I could never ask you to do that, never! So we are not going to get Char- .. We are not going to have her to hide the bond. Okay?" I asked, but in a way that left no room for discussion.

"Bella… What do you want me to do?" He whispered the question, as if he was almost afraid of saying it out loud.

"I just… want you to love me," I looked out of the window, I heard him get up from the bed and walk towards me. He put his arms around me and pulled me close. I didn't notice I was sobbing until he started whispering soothing words to me. I wish I could cry.

"I love you," those three simple words should have made my heart soar and my knees go weak. But it didn't. I pushed him away from me.

"It's not enough Ed-"the door opened abruptly, showing Jasper's tired face. He looked exhausted, well as exhausted as a vampire can look.

"Please, for one evening… could we just not do this?" he asked while looking at Edward, then at me.

"Jasp-" he interrupted me.

"Your emotions are all over the place. Alice keeps seeing 24 different scenarios all ending in the two of you breaking up. That makes her upset… which makes me upset. I can't deal with this. She can't deal with this. Carlisle stays at the hospital so he can avoid this. Emmett and Rosalie are hunting all the time to avoid this. Esme tries to shut all of it out… and Charlotte? She leaves so the two of you could maybe have a day without shouting at each other. Could you maybe for once have that? If not for you… then for the rest of us?" he looked pleading at the two of us. I nodded slowly.

I knew Edward was nodding too, when Jasper left the room with a somewhat apologetic look in his eyes. I turned to look at Edward who was still staring at were Jasper had left. I leaned against his chest.

"I am an idiot," he whispered. I nodded.

"I am the biggest idiot in the world," he said as he draped his arms around my waist. He placed a tentatively kiss in my hair. I almost smiled.

"That is maybe stretching it too far, don't you think?" I whispered. He chuckled.

I don't know how long we just stood like that; it could have been ten minutes or hours. His hands were softly rubbing my hips, driving me insane. I wanted to tell him to stop; I wanted to yell that I didn't need this right now.

But in some sense I needed a day off. I needed to pretend that everything was as it used to. That he only loved me and that Charlotte didn't exist.

I gently started pushing us backwards. His knees hit the bed, I smiled to myself. I pushed him the rest of the way, while I stayed standing. I turned around to look at his slightly hopeful expression.

I took of my shirt and crawled onto the bed, straddling his hips. His hands gripped my hips as a reflex, but he then pulled them away, not knowing if I wanted him to.

"I'm not going to forget," I whispered as I leaned down and kissed his lips.

"I know," he breathed, kissing me back. His hands travelled down my arms to my hips, making my tingle all over in the progress. I leaned my forehead against his.

"But just for tonight… let us pretend that everything is okay," I murmured as I closed my eyes. I could feel him nod against me. My hands played with the hem of his shirt and he got the hint, lifting his arms so I could pull it off him. I threw the shirt behind me.

"I love you," I could pretend to believe those words tonight. I kissed him feverously, while my hands were running all over his abs. I could feel his hands travel up my back, working the claps of my bra. I threw that behind me, too. Suddenly I was under him and I gasped in mock surprise. He grinned boyishly at me. I kissed his lips.

"Me too" I smiled.

_It never fails. He always gets laid. _


	6. See You in Hell

**_A/N: Is there really anything to say other than.. God I'm sorry? Life gets in the way and suddenly FF isn't that important anymore.. We both love this story.. But seeing as I am the one who is writing it.. I just sometimes forget all about it.. Now I've had this chapter on my computer for a while now.. feeling like something was missing.. And then today I though.. Let's look at it.. So here is the result.. I hope you enjoy it.. And I hope you haven't forgot all about the story.. I won't make any promises for future chapters.. But I will try to make an effort. _**

_**- Charlotte and Louise. **_

_**Disclaimer: S. Meyer owns everything but Charlotte.. She's ours. **_

5. See You in Hell.

"_Hell is empty and all the devils are here.__"  
- William Shakespeare_

* * *

CPOV

Time goes by and everything became a routine. School and wonderfully smelling humans became a daily challenge you just have to deal with, "The Bella and Edward Show" made its nightly appearance and my talks with the Cute English Boy became my daily highlight.

He was unusually awkward today. Here I was sitting beside him and he was fidgeting. Pulling on his sleeves and looking at the floor.

"Something wrong, Daniel?" his head snapped towards me, his eyes slightly dazed because of my smile. He gulped.

"No it's just that... I've been wondering and… Ah hell," His features changed from looking somewhat awkward to determine.

"Charlotte? Do you want to go on a date with me?" I could hear Bella's head snap towards us as we waited for Spanish to begin. I looked at him startled. What the hell was I supposed to say to that?

"I… ehm… I," he raised his hand to stop me from making a fool of myself.

"It's okay… I didn't think you would say yes anyway… so yeah, it's okay," he turned to look at the blackboard as our teacher walked into the room. He looked like it was anything but okay.

"No… it's not like that, I was just surprised. And I… I would love to go on a date with you," his face turned towards me and I can only describe his expression as glowing. Glowing with happiness.

"Really? Wow... okay... pick you up at 7 on Friday?" I smiled at his eagerness and nodded. He turned back towards the board with a smiled upon his face. I heard Bella sigh.

"I'm sorry," I whispered to her. And I really was. Edward would make a huge deal out of this.

"It's okay… I'll deal with him," she whispered. I turned to look at her. She hated me. And now she was sounding almost friendly. What was going on?

I finished Spanish in a haze of confusion. The bell rang and I started collecting my things.

"See you tomorrow, Char," was Daniel's goodbye. I'm not really sure I managed to say something back. I walked behind Bella to the car, where we were walked into an Edward vs. Alice argument.

"Can't you just tell me what the hell it is?" Edward said sounding annoyed to Alice, who turned to wink at me.

"Not really, Edward… good things comes to those who w-" I cut her off. Her eyes screamed in terror at me, but there was no use in hiding it from him.

"I am going on a date with Daniel this Friday," the silence that filled the car after that statement was deafening. I could hear the steering wheel protest under Edwards hold. But he didn't say anything. Jasper was cringing under the anger and Alice's eyes were big with worry and Bella? Bella was sitting silently in the front seat.

"You are doing what?" Edward was part whispering, part hissing at me. I rolled my eyes at him.

"Are you deaf? I said I was going on a date with Daniel on Friday." I was close to growling, but tried to hold it in. I was only partly successful.

"I heard it. But I had to ask again, because it couldn't possibly be true that you were stupid enough to actually say yes. He's a human and you're a vampire… you think that's clever? You could kill him in a second." I scoffed at him, he was being ridiculous.

"You are a hypocrite! Aren't you forgetting the fact that you did the exact same thing? I know that it's been some years, but surely you must remember," he growled.

_Uh, hit a nerve, did we?_

"That was different… you can't compare that to this," he said as he parked the car in the garage. Alice and Jasper fled the scene but Bella stayed behind.

"You do know that you are being an idiot, right? I don't give a damn about what you think about this. Yes I could kill him, yes I don't love him, but he asked and I said yes. I am not going to go back to school tomorrow and tell him that I changed my mind because my _brother _thinks it is a bad idea, okay? I have to endure living like this, all because of you! So let me have my fun!" I rushed out of the car and slammed the door close.

I walked into the living room and sat down on the couch. I usually never stayed in the house at nights, but I hunted yesterday and it was going to rain later. No reason for me to stay outside.

"_AND I AM YOUR WIFE!" _I heard Bella yell and then a slam of a car door closely followed by the other one. One pair of feet banging against the earth, fleeing from the house, the other pair, shuffling defeated, was coming towards the house.

He sat down beside me on couch.

We didn't say anything to each other. I didn't need to; he knew he was an idiot. A car approached the driveway. Just as Bella was running back to the house.

"_Hi Carlisle… can I borrow you car?" _her voice was pleading; I heard the noise of a pair of keys being dropped in Bella's hand. He didn't question her motives he didn't even ask why. I could see by the tensing of Edward's shoulders that Carlisle wasn't thinking happy or particular enjoyable thoughts. The car was gone before Carlisle reached the front door.

"What happened?" was the tired question he greeted the two of us with. Edward didn't answer him,

"Edward? What happened?" still no response.

"I have a date with a guy from school." I said bluntly. The sigh that came from Carlisle said more than any words would ever have. He was worried about Bella, annoyed at me and… and he was disappointed in Edward, but at the same time understanding. He walked upstairs to Esme. There was the quiet murmur of talking from upstairs, a laugh here and a moan there; a normal afternoon in the Cullen home.

Edward eventually walked upstairs, still no sign of Bella. Time ticked by, the sun disappeared and the moon woke up. I hadn't moved an inch. I was going on a date with a human. I was going on a date with my favourite choice of food. What was wrong with me?

_Surely I must be going insane._

I purposely made everything worse. I said yes to that date, knowing that Edward would flip, knowing that he would say something stupid to Bella, because that was what he did. I knew all of this, so why did I do it? Did I find joy in other people's sufferings or did I just want everybody to hurt?

Yes.

They forced me to stay here and I… I enjoyed the revenge.

No need to hide that.

A car drove up the driveway, slowly. It parked in the garage. A door slammed shut and a pair of feet walked towards the front door. The door opened and closed. Bella seemed to flow up the stairs, not sparing me a glance. There was an almost painful silence in the house. As if everybody was holding their breath hoping for something… Which was stupid. Edward never did do the right thing.

The door opened to their bedroom and closed. I sat still waiting for the confrontation… there was some rustling and then.

"Don't… just don't, Edward," she was whispering and that was it, there were some movements and after that… nothing.

Somehow the silence made me feel guilty, the fact that she didn't even argue with him, that she was too _tired _for that.

_Stop it Charlotte. You didn't choose this. No need to feel guilty about being yourself. _

I was ruining them and there was nothing I could do about it. I couldn't run away, because then Aro & co. would kill me. I had no choice. Just my mere presence was destroying Carlisle's coven.

It was their choice.

Days went by. Bella was not talking to Edward. There was a tense silence in the house. They all kept glaring at me, willing me to leave. They hated me, that much I knew. I still didn't care.

It was Friday today.

I had left Spanish feeling somewhat happy; the way Daniel had looked at me when he said goodbye made me smile in a way I hadn't for years.

I was going on a date.

Me, who hated romance and silly little things like love, was going on a date. Surely it was the end of the world. I didn't know what I was supposed to do. Should I wear formal clothes or casual?

I stood in front of my closet, looking at all of my clothes. I had a lot of dresses. Some were very old and some were very new. Some made me look older and some made me look younger. I grabbed one of my black dresses.

_You can never go wrong with Chanel._

I didn't put on that much make up; I was a natural beauty after all. I strapped on my heels and looked in the mirror. The door to my room opened.

"You do know how weird this is, right?" I turned to look at Carlisle leaning against the door frame. I laughed loudly, while I put on my earrings.

"I know. I can't believe that you have to go all _Daddy _on me. It's wrong on so many levels," I smiled and made a pirouette, "How do I look?"

"Well… let's put it this way, if you really were my 17 year old daughter? I would not let you out of the door looking like that. Poor boy, he doesn't know what he is getting himself into." He said with a glint in his eyes.

"That's what I'm going for," I said and turned to the mirror once more. I looked nervous, why did I look nervous? The sound of a car hitting the gravel in our driveway snapped me out of my thoughts and a weird, giddy smile appeared on my lips.

I walked through the door and hurried down the stairs, while the car parked. I heard Daniel walk towards the door while whispering to himself.

"It's just Charlotte… come on you talk to her every single day. You can do this Daniel!" I had to bite my lip from laughing out loud.

The door bell rang and Carlisle was at the door in a second, he put his hand on the door knob and flashed a smile at me, and then proceeded to open it.

"Hi… ehm I'm here to pick up Charlotte,"

_aw, he was nervous._

"Oh, you're the guy who's taking my girl out on a date, okay, let me just see if she's ready," he then turned around and yelled, "Charlotte? That boy is here!" I walked out of the living room.

"I am right here, dad," I almost cringed from saying that out loud. I walked around Carlisle, so I could look at Daniel. He smiled as he looked me up and down.

"You look beautiful," he breathed, looking slightly dazed. I smiled back while I pushed Carlisle out of the door. I then walked out of the door and closed it in Carlisle's face. Daniel looked at me weirdly.

"Thank you and all… but we shouldn't really stay, my brothers and sisters can be quite annoying when they want to be. And so can my dad," I said and laughed. He laughed with me while he opened the door for me.

_Ah, what a gentleman._

I mumbled my thanks while he hurried towards the driver seat, got in, put on his seatbelt and started the car. I realised I hadn't put on my seatbelt and hurried to do the same thing. All these little things you had to do to make it look like you were human.

_What a waste of time. _

"So where are you taking me?" I asked, trying to sound polite and not like I wanted to rip out his aorta. My God this guy smelled delicious. I stopped breathing.

"To this little Italian place.. You do like Italian right?"

_Not really, no._

"Yes, I love Italian," I said and smiled. Oh god, I had to eat it, he would notice if I didn't. Oh what I wouldn't give just to take a sip of him. I didn't actually have to kill him, just a taste. The venom was slowly pooling in my mouth. I would be quick.

_Charlotte. Stop it. _

I swallowed the venom.

Daniel hadn't noticed anything. He was smiling to himself, glancing at me every now and then. He didn't look nervous. He wasn't sweating, wasn't gripping the steering wheel too hard and he wasn't even trying to make awkward small talk. What was weird about this whole situation was that I was the one who was actually quite nervous.

I was fiddling with my thumbs; my mouth opened and closed because I wanted to say something, but didn't want to sound stupid. I felt sort of uncomfortable.

_I am too old for this game. _

We arrived at the restaurant, was seated at a table, ordered our food and started talking.

"So how was Chicago?" was his first question. It was in the small talk-ish category, but I was feeling generous and didn't point it out to him.

"It was okay, I guess? I mean… living in a house with 8 other people who are all paired up can get kind of crazy. But I liked the city, the weather and yeah… it was okay," the waiter interrupted to give us our food. I hadn't bothered to actually think about what I was going to eat; it all smelled absolutely revolting to me anyway.

"Yeah, it must be weird to have all of your siblings pairing up, being the ninth wheel and all," he said while eating something that looked like spaghetti and some form of vegetable. It looked utterly repulsive to me. I took a bite of my salad. I almost spit it out again, but I gulped it down.

_Why am I doing this again?_

"It is… weird, but you get used to it," I shrugged and took another bite of my salad as Daniel gazed at me. I held his gaze and smiled at him, he smiled back at me in a silly, teenager way. It was sort of cute.

"So what is the deal about your brother?" I knew who he meant, but decided to play stupid.

"I have many, who are we talking about?" I raised an eyebrow, while I played with my food.

"Your real brother? Edward? I've caught him glaring at me several times this last week. And well, he just generally seems like a very brooding guy," he said and shrugged at me.

_Should I lie and make up a sad story about our life, or just say that Edward is an idiot?_

_I really like the idiot one. _

_Should we go with that? _

"Well, Edward is very protective; he keeps forgetting that I am his older sister. I think the fact that I am in the same grade as him is making is even easier to forget. He just doesn't like the fact that his sister is going on a date. As for him being brooding, well that's just how Edward is. He's a big idiot and he's got the biggest temperament in the world," I tried to say it in a very casual way.

"Oh, so I should expect more glaring from him then?" he was smiling cockily at me, making me raise my eyebrows at him in mock surprise.

"Well, I don't know... should I expect more nights like this?" he nodded, "Well, then yeah… You probably should."

The rest of the night went well, or I guess it did. Me being the girl who had never really been on a real date, I can't really tell if it went well or..

_What are you talking about? You went on that date with Ed… _

_Doesn't count._

He drove me home and there was that awkward moment at the front door where the whole "should I kiss her or not" happened. He decided that he should.

_Shit._

I was two seconds away from ripping his throat open and just drinking all of his delicious smelling blood. I tried not breathing, I tried not thinking about it, but I could almost taste it. Right there on my lips. I would have killed him if it wasn't because somebody barged out of the garage, laughing her ass off. Daniel turned around, while I raised my head to look at Bella.

"Oh, what do we have here? Charlotte, Charlotte… kisses on the first date? I thought there were rules to follow?" She said and leaned against the garage door.

"Bella? Don't you have to go sucking off my brother's face or something?" I said and smirked, while silently thanking her.

_What is her motive._

"Ha, Ha, Ha… no unfortunately our dear family is out on a trip, but I was forced to stay at home, you know with me being 'ill' and all." translated: they are out hunting and Edward is still in the doghouse,

"Oh, Hey Daniel." Way to go Bella, make the poor boy more nervous.

"Hi Bella.. uhm.. well, I think I need to go, uhm?" he turned to look at me, while I was looking at Bella, silently telling her to leave.

She took the hint and went past us into the house. I turned to look back at Daniel, trying to look apologetic.

"I'm sorry, Daniel… you know… sisters..." I said and shrugged. He nodded understandingly and took a few steps back.

"So uhm.. I think I will leave.. but thanks for tonight. And well, see you on Monday?" I didn't even get to answer him back before he was in the car and driving away. I walked into the house and leaned against the closed front door. Finally I could take one of those unnecessary deep breaths.

"You're quite cruel, you know. Stringing that poor boy along, when we both know that you can't handle it," She was right.

_Bitch. _

"And maybe you should focus more on your marriage and less on my love life, yes?" I sneered and walked into my room.


End file.
